Favourites in Five: Sarah Miller Walters

 

This is the first in a new series of blogs where I ask some of my favourite regular contributors and film fans to select five of the biggest influences on their lives from the world of film, television and theatre. These are all very personal choices and I find it fascinating to find out who everyone picks.

We're starting off today with Sarah Miller Walters and although she's been a bit cheeky and chosen six famous faces instead of five, but given her sixth and final choice, I could hardly refuse could I?


Margaret Rutherford 

If British cinema was a ship, the figurehead would be Margaret Rutherford. She would lean out from the prow with a jutting chin and her capes a-flutter.  Everybody knows and loves her. But delve a little deeper and be prepared for surprises. Her father spent time in Broadmoor, and had murdered his own father.  Her mother committed suicide. Combined with Margaret’s own bouts of depression, this was behind her conscious decision to not have children. Remarkably, she decided to dedicate her life to joy instead. I can’t help but think that any modern-day actor would use a history like Margaret’s as an excuse for bad behaviour and drug or alcohol abuse. It seems that her only vices were a fondness for sandwiches and afternoon naps. 

Margaret’s films continue to delight so many people and her face remains known and loved 45 years after her death (sadly just weeks before I was born, how I wish I had been alive at the same time as Margaret!) Her significance to me is simply that I always wanted to be her. I never aspired to glamour. I just wanted the nerve to wear capes and hats with the same aplomb. I wanted to be as knowledgeable a historian as she portrays in “Passport to Pimlico” and to ride a bike with the same exuberance as she does in “Blithe Spirit”. WHAT a gal!

 

Joyce Grenfell

This is another face that needs no introduction to anyone with at least a passing interest in 20^th century British culture.  From the 1940s to her death in 1979, Joyce was a regular on our radio, television, stage and cinema screen. Her most famous film role is Policewoman Ruby Gates from the St Trinians film series, but many will also be familiar with her Nursery School Teacher monologues. 
 
“George, don’t do that.”

Joyce wrote all of her own monologues - there are so many of these, please do explore beyond the nursery teacher. It is as a writer that she holds particular interest for me. I think that Joyce and I have something in common – and that is a desire to be continually writing things down. She was a prolific letter writer and several absorbing volumes have been published. These offer a unique first- hand account of life in general during a fascinating period of history; as well as an insight into the life of a celebrity. She is both a historical icon and a resource. Follow @CallMeSossidge on Twitter!

 

Lilian Baylis

Lilian’s name is not as familiar as my previous two choices and this is a great shame. It is unfortunate that those talents not actually there before us on the screen or the stage and therefore not in the public eye are more easily forgotten. Lilian is a theatrical hero and I would like to help keep her legend alive. To this end, I have recently been conducting some research into her life and work.

Lilian was the manager of the Old Vic theatre from 1912 until her death in 1937. During this time she also founded Sadlers Wells and sowed the seeds of what would become the National Theatre. She was determined that theatre was for all, not just those who could afford it. 

Most fascinating is the roll call of names of actors who learned or polished their trade on her stage. Read books and programmes and name after name leaps out at you. John Laurie, Athene Seyler, Eric Portman, Sybil Thorndike, James Mason, Edith Evans, Roger Livesey, Flora Robson. This is just dipping a toe in the water. Better still, Lilian was a Character. A one-off. She had to be to succeed as a female theatre manager in those days. Stories of her eccentricities abound and are the icing on the cake of a fantastic life. Do look her up.

 

Will Hay

One of my earliest film related memories is of watching the Will Hay film “Where’s That Fire?” I don’t know how old I was – possibly not even old enough to understand some of the jokes.  But I do know that I laughed myself silly at the scenes where Hay and his sidekicks are trying to install a pole in the fire station. And I still do now. One of my favourite ever films is ‘Oh, Mr Porter!’ Again, it never goes stale. Hay’s sense of comedy is timeless, he knew what he was doing. A successful music hall act, he managed to move his act onto the screen – which is probably not as easy as he makes it look.  Away from his performing career he was an astronomer and an extremely intelligent man who died much too soon, aged just 60.

 

George Formby

To many, George Formby is the ugly feller from Wigan with the ukulele and repertoire of cheeky songs. These can still raise an eyebrow and a smile today. His films are great entertainment too, and they are also a historical resource.  It was my use of Formby’s films in a study of wartime propaganda when I was a student that was behind the idea for my blog, ‘The History Usherette.’ In the 1930s, his films tackled subjects that were relevant to ordinary people. And when war came, he was keen to boost morale through his screen work as well as his concert tours. His films reflect on what would have been common concerns to his audience. As a result, this offers a great insight into the years between 1935 and 1945. I wrote an essay about this in one of my books if you would like to know more (Matinee Musings by The History Usherette).

 

Kenneth Williams

Those of us who were born in the early 1970s grew up with Kenneth Williams. When we were young, he was that feller on ‘Jackanory’ with the funny voices. Then he was the narrator behind the tea-time cartoon ‘Willo The Wisp’ featuring the hilarious Evil Edna. As we got a bit older, we started to see the Carry On films on television on weekend afternoons, and he was the only guest worth watching on the otherwise boring chat shows that our parents watched. 

I was 15 when he died and was sad about it, while still knowing relatively little about him. Then his diaries were published and I read them – and new vistas opened up. I bought cassettes of ‘Round The Horne’ and ‘Hancock’s Half Hour’; I learned the story behind Julian and Sandy’s bona slang.  Kenneth Williams is a national institution who holds an enormous power to entertain and educate long after he so sadly trolled off and left us, still wanting more. 

I hope you have enjoyed the blog - and thanks again to Sarah for taking the time to do it! You can follow Sarah on Twitter here and there is plenty of wonderful Joyce Grenfell fun @CallMeSossidge

And you can find out more about Sarah's wonderful books here 

You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan on Facebook and on Instagram

The Legendary Charles Hawtrey

There was just nobody quite like Charles Hawtrey and there never will be again. He was a truly unique screen actor. Hawtrey's career spanned seven decades and took in all manner of work but it is for the Carry On films that he is best remembered today.

Of course Charles had a love-hate relationship with the films, frequently falling out with Peter Rogers about billing and money but Hawtrey always returned. This was partly because the Carry Ons needed him and Rogers and Thomas knew what they had in him and partly because he was, by that stage, not offered much work elsewhere. Spats with the bosses aside, Hawtrey's off screen battle with the demon drink was probably also tolerated by the paymasters at Pinewood for much longer than in any other line of work. It was noticeable on screen from time to time and sadly proved the final straw, leading to his departure after Carry On Abroad in 1972. His last performance in that film, as Eustace Tuttle, portrayed him cruelly as an alcoholic mummy's boy. In what is otherwise a delightful example of Carry On, it is a painful thing to watch.

Away from the Carry Ons, Hawtrey had carved out an incredible career. He began in the days of silent films, working frequently with Will Hay and playing a perpetual school boy character. However, once he got too old for this part his career began to hit the skids. He did have a long running role opposite Patricia Hayes on radio, playing schoolboys in a BBC Children's Hour programme called Norman and Henry Bones, The Boy Detectives. This series ran from the early 1940s up until the 1960s which is incredible when you think about it!

Hawtrey also appeared in the classic Ealing comedy, Passport to Pimlico, before finding television fame in the ITV sitcom, The Army Game. It was here Hawtrey first met and worked with future Carry On colleagues Bernard Bresslaw, Norman Rossington and William Hartnell. It was undoubtedly this casting and the huge success of The Army Game that led Charles to be cast in the very first Carry On film, Carry On Sergeant, in 1958. The rest is cinematic history.

Nobody else could have played Charles Hawtrey's parts in the Carry Ons, something Jimmy Logan would happily attest to after his gruesome attempt at Cecil Gaybody in Carry On Girls. Hawtrey was a natural for the series and his unique mannerisms and delivery would be seized upon by Gerald Thomas over the 23 films in which he appeared. Only Kenneth Williams and Joan Sims made more Carry Ons than Charles and his contribution is immense. 

From Mr Bean the music master in Carry On Teacher and Pint Pot in Carry On Cabby to Private Widdle in Up The Khyber and the camp Mr Coote in At Your Convenience, Hawtrey was a regular scene stealer. Some of his roles in the films were little more than cameos and he normally played away from the main team, but that didn't matter. It didn't feel right if a Carry On was made without Hawtrey and the series most definitely lost something after his departure.

A loner, he was relatively close to the likes of Joan Sims and Barbara Windsor. He lived down in Deal in his later years and became quite the local celebrity, not always for the best of reasons! While Kenneth Williams struggled with his sexuality, Hawtrey embraced it regularly and notoriously! A famous visit down to see Hawtrey is recorded in Kenneth Williams' diaries and is both hilarious and rather sad. As always, we don't know how much of this record is Williams embellishing the facts but it does feel like there's some truth in it all. 

Hawtrey's career dried up after the Carry Ons. He did do some regional stage work although his drinking made him increasingly unreliable and one to avoid. He appeared very occasionally on television, such as a wordless cameo in a version of Eric Sykes' The Plank in 1979 and finally, a role in Super Gran in 1987. He was interviewed by Roy Hudd for television in the early 80s, dressed in the most dreadful floral green shirt and tie combination you could imagine! Unfortunately it is a rather sad appearance as he had obviously indulged quite seriously beforehand.

Charles Hawtrey became very ill in the late 1980s. Despite decades of film, television and theatre work, money was scarce. Eventually threatened with losing his legs due to his poor health, Hawtrey made the brave decision not to follow the advice of his doctors. He passed away in October 1988 at the age of 73. Such was his reclusive nature by that stage that many former colleagues were not aware of his passing until some time later.

It was a tragic end for an actor who created so much laughter and so many wonderful characters over such a long career. Fortunately we have Charles Hawtrey's classic Carry On performances to remember him by so despite the sadness that dominated his life, Charles still left us a wonderful legacy. 

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Carry On Listening!

BBC Radio Three have a fantastic new series going out at the moment focusing on some giants of British comedy. And Sid James is thankfully one of them. 

The Essay features historian Simon Heffer discussing the lives and work of a selection of classic British film comedians. Each essay lasts just 15 minutes so they are perfect little programmes to catch on the go. Sid's programme was the last in the series which also featured Tony Hancock, Alastair Sim, Terry-Thomas and Will Hay. 

Nice to see Sid is such esteemed company! The programme rightly says that Sid was one of the best-loved comic actors of his day. I for one think he is still as popular today.

These programmes are well worth a listen. You can access them via the BBC Website

Carry On Listening!

You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan and also Facebook

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